Anna Stankova
Painting
National Academy of Art Sofia
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Fine Art
My location: Sofia, Bulgaria
Anna Stankova
First Name: Anna
Last Name: Stankova
University / College: National Academy of Art Sofia
Course / Program: Painting
Graduates: 2026
Specialisms: Fine Art
My Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
About
Anna Stankova is a visual artist working in the field of contemporary art, with a focus on experimental materials and process-based practices. Her work explores the tension between control and chance through the use of oxidation as an active artistic tool. Rust functions not merely as a material, but as a co-author—leaving traces, transforming surfaces, and rendering time as a visible component of the image. Within this process, the final outcome remains partially unpredictable, and the artistic gesture oscillates between intervention and the deliberate relinquishing of control.
The exhibition “Architecture of the Home” presents a series of paintings and objects that explore themes of belonging and identity through the image of the house, as well as the tension between control and chance, developed through the chemical processes of oxidation. Rust is used as an active artistic tool, where the final result remains partially unpredictable. It leaves traces and transforms the surface into an archive of change. The attempt to control oxidation turns into a gesture that simultaneously creates and destroys. As a counterpoint to the tension and aggression of rust, the motif of the house emerges as the central visual and conceptual element of the exhibition. It appears as an image of searching—for roots, belonging, and identity. Across the different works, the image is placed in varied environments, creating a charged dialogue between stability and decay, protection and vulnerability. The house appears on rusted surfaces, is constructed from oxidized paper, surrounded in rust-like clouds, or intertwined with barbed wire—simultaneously a symbol of protection and violence. Through these transformations, the idea of home loses its stability and becomes a fragile architecture, subject to external forces. Through its materiality, the project aims to activate a dialogue between image and environment, and to visualize the tension between belonging, aggression, and vulnerability.
Competitions
